REH
Bookshelf - B
compiled
by Rusty Burke
BACK
TO REH BOOKSHELF HOMEPAGE
Babylonian
Legend of Ishtar
| Bacon,
Francis | Baldwin
Faith | Balzac,
Honoré de | Barlow,
Robert H. | Barrie,
Sir James M. | Baudelaire,
Charles | Baxter,
William | Beach,
Rex | Beadle,
Charles | Bede |
Benét,
Stephen Vincent | Benét,
William Rose | Benoit,
Pierre | Beowulf
| The
Bible | Bierce,
Ambrose | Birkhead,
L. M. | Bishop,
Zealia Reed | Blackwood,
Algernon | Blasco
Ibanez, Vicente | Boas,
Franz | Boccaccio,
Giovanni | Bodenheim,
Maxwell | Bok,
Edward W. | Bond,
John | Bower
B. M. | Brann, W.
C. | Brisbane,
Arthur | Bromfield,
Louis | Brooke,
Rupert | Brown,
Robert Carlton | Browning,
Elizabeth Barrett | Browning,
Robert | Bunyan,
John | Burke,
Edmund | Burns,
Robert | Burns,
Walter Noble | Burroughs,
Edgar Rice | Burton,
Sir Richard Francis | Byrne,
Donn | Byron, Lord
The
heading of "The House of Arabu" consists of seven
lines from this ancient text, also known as "Descent of
Ishtar to the Nether World."
The quotation seems to be from Morals in Ancient Babylon,
by Joseph McCabe (Little Blue Book #1076), slightly modified (in
the quotation, a second clause in each of the first two lines has
been dropped; the first part of these lines, and the rest of the
quotation, is identical to the McCabe text).
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(1561-1626)
"Of Revenge."
One
Who Walked Alone, p.
204: [REH makes the
suggestion that Shakespeare's plays might have been written by
Bacon (an idea first put forth in the mid-19th century; see
"Shakespeare")] "'Can't
you just see those old Elizabethans sitting around talking, trying
to decide whether revenge should be done by the next of kin or by
the State? Bacon was
especially interested in things like that.
That's why he wrote his essay on revenge.... You read that
essay and then read Hamlet,' Bob said.
'See if you don't think that was one of Hamlet's
problems.'"
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(1893-1978)
"Song For Three Seasons."
REH
to Tevis Clyde Smith, 14 April 1926:
[This poem is quoted in full, the title given as "Song of the
Seasons"] "At first there don't seem to be much to that
poem, but think about it awhile!"
[The poem appeared in Argosy,
16 December 1922, and is included (revised) in the author's
collection, Sign Posts (Boston: Small, Maynard & Co.,
1924)]
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(1799-1850).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 2 November, 1932
[SL 2 #65]: "Balzac is better [than Rabelais], but I never
could get interested in him."
REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. May-June 1933 [SL 2
#67]: "My tastes
and habits are simple; I am neither erudite nor sophisticated.
I prefer jazz to classical music, musical burlesques to
Greek tragedy, A. Conan Doyle to Balzac, Bob Service's verse to
Santayana's writing, a prize fight to a lecture on art."
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(1918-1951).
"Annals
of the Jinns."
REH
to R.H. Barlow, June 14, 1934:
"I've read your stories in The Fantasy Fan with the keenest
interest, and I think you have real literary talent."
Seven episodes in this series had appeared between October
1933 and June 1934.
REH to Robert H. Barlow,
postcard, 14 February 1936:
"This is to express, somewhat belatedly, my thanks and
appreciation for the fine copy of 'Cats of Ulthar' and 'The Dragon
Fly'."
"The Battle That Ended the Century."
(See
under "Lovecraft, H.P. and Robert H. Barlow")
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(1860-1937)
The
Admirable Crichton
(1902).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. September 1933:
"I quite agree with your estimate of the average newspaper,
and do not differ radically with your opinion of radio programs.
And yet it would be erroneous to say that all radio
programs are entirely without cultural value... I have heard,
among other things, such plays as 'The Admirable Creighton'... Of
course I had rather see these things on the stage, but as my
chances of doing that are so slim they are practically non-existant, I was grateful for the opportunity of hearing them
over the air."
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(1821-1867).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 2 November, 1932
[SL 2 #65]: "I like Villon's poems, and Verlaine's and
Baudelaire's, but don't think any of them can equal the greatest
English poets."
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft ca.
September 1933: "If I can enjoy (for instance) both
Service and Baudelaire, I see no reason why I should feel inferior
to the man who can only enjoy Baudelaire, any more than to the man
who can enjoy only Service."
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(1650-1723).
Glossarium Antiquitatum Brittanicarum
sive syllabus
etymologicus antiquitatum veteris Brittaniĉ atque Iberniĉ,
temporibus Romanorum. Auctore Willielmo Baxter... Accedunt...
Edvardii Luidii... De fluviorum, montium, urbium, &c. in
Brittaniâ nominibus, adversaria posthuma.
Londini, typis W. Bowyer, 1719.
REH
to Farnsworth Wright, ca. July 1930
[SL 1 #30]: "Baxter, the highly learned author of Glossario
Antiquae Brittaniae, upholds this theory...."
In my opinion, Howard probably picked up the information
about Baxter from O'Reilly and O'Donovan's Irish-English
Dictionary (q.v.); on p. 399 of that work, under "Remarks
on the letter P," is found: "Mr. Baxter (in Glossario
Antiquĉ Brittaniĉ, p. 90) remarks, that the oldest Brigantes,
whom he esteems the first inhabitants of Britain...."
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(1877-1949)
Flowing Gold
New York: Harper & Bros., 1922.
REH
to August W. Derleth, ca. February 1933:
"That reminds me of a kid...who went to Ranger during the big
boom (fictionized by Rex Beach in 'Flowing Gold')...."
[New York: Harper & Bros., 1929.
30899; PQ2]
This book does appear on the accessions list, but earlier
than what I believe to be the starting point of the Howard
Memorial Collection.
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Adventure, 15 September 1920.
[See Appendix
Two]
Adventure, 1 September 1921.
[See
Appendix
Two]
Adventure, 20 June 1922.
[See
Appendix
Two]
Adventure, 10 March - 30 March, 1922 (3 parts).
[See
Appendix
Two]
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("The Venerable Bede") (ca. 673-735).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, 1 July 1930
[SL 1 #39 (mistakenly dated "9 August 1930")] quotes
Bede regarding the successive settlements of Britons, Picts and
Scots in Britain.
REH
to Harold Preece ca. October 1930 refers to this same passage.
The quotation is found in Williams (ed.), The
Historians' History of the World (q.v.),
vol. XXI, p. 7.
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(1898-1943).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932:
Benét is listed among a number of poets Howard likes ("the
Benets -- Stephen Vincent better than William Rose").
Tevis Clyde Smith, "Adventurer in Pulp,"
names Benét as one of REH's favorite poets.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1928.
30746; PQ2; GL; TDB.
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(1886-1950).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932:
Benét is listed among a number of poets Howard likes ("the
Benets -- Stephen Vincent better than William Rose").
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(1886-1962).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. January 1931:
"I've never read the novel you mention by Benoit."
[Cf. H.P. Lovecraft to
Clark Ashton Smith, 1 October 1927 (H.P. Lovecraft, Selected
Letters II.298): "Atlantideer, by Pierre Benoit,
has excellent style but is more adventurous than fantastic."
Benoit's L'Atlantide (1919) was first published in
the United States as Atlantida (New York: Duffield &
Co., 1920).]
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(ca. 8th c.)
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. 10 August 1931:
"...the first Nordic folk-tale I ever read was Beowulf."
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REH
to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. February 1931
contains a lengthy discussion of Saul and David, and of Samson.
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. June 1931[SL 2 #53]: "As for
Biblical history, my
real interest begins and ends with the age of Saul, outside of
snatches here and there, as in the case of Samson."
REH to
August W. Derleth, 4 July 1935, quotes Proverbs 6:6.
There are a number of other Biblical allusions in Howard's
letters. At the end of "The Moon of Skulls,"
Solomon Kane quotes from Isaiah: in the passage beginning,
"And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise
of the fear...," the quoted verses are Isaiah 24:18, 25:2,
29:5, and 29:9.
A
number of Howard's poems, notably "Dreaming in
Israel," "The Dust Dance (Selections, version II),"
"The Odyssey of Israel," and "Samson's
Broodings," deal in whole or in part with Biblical
persons or themes, and many others feature prominent Biblical
names, such as Cain, Belshazzar, etc.
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(1842-1914?).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. October 1930
[SL 1 #47]: "I have read...a good deal of Bierce..."
REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932: Bierce is
listed among those Howard refers to as "my favorite
writers." In the
same paragraph, he asks, "...where is the Frenchman who
writes, or wrote, with...the mysticism of Ambrose Bierce...?"
REH to H.P. Lovecraft, 6 March 1933: "...de Castro
tells us Bierce was very proud of his skill at
knife-throwing..."
[He
appears also to have read de Castro's memoir of Bierce (see under
"de Castro").]
Bierce is mentioned in Howard's parodies
(all included in letters to Tevis Clyde Smith), "The
People of the Winged Skulls" (prob. ca. 1928;
"Biercey!" "Ambroselems!"), "King
Hootus" (ca. January 1928, "Ambeer Bierce"),
and "The Rump of Swift" (ca. June 1928), and in
the humorous poem, "A Fable for Critics."
Tevis Clyde Smith, "Adventurer in Pulp":
"Ambrose Bierce...[was] among his favorite writers...."
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1899.
[A
list found among Howard's papers indicates this book cost $ .49 +
.14 postage. See
Appendix Two.]
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(1885-1954).
REH
to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. April 1930 [SL
1 #35]: "I got a letter from Preecel, i.e. Hink [Harold
Preece] and he said he
had
met E.H.J., Birchead, or Birkhead, or something like that
whoeverthehellheis, also Joseph McCabe."
Birkhead was minister of the All-Souls Unitarian Church in
Kansas City, Missouri, 1917-1939, acted as an adviser to Sinclair
Lewis during the writing of Elmer Gantry (1926-1927), and author
of several Little Blue Books.
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(1897-1968).
"The
Curse of Yig."
Weird
Tales, November 1929.
(See
under "Lovecraft.")
(See
under "Lovecraft.")
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(1869-1951).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. October 1930
[SL 1 #47]: "...I do not think that I ever read a line of
Blackwood, for instance."
[Lovecraft had sent REH a copy of
his "Supernatural Horror in Literature," in which
Blackwood and many others are discussed.]
REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1930 [SL 1 #49]:
"I highly appreciate your offer to lend me the Blackwood
books and intend to take advantage of your kindness at some future
date when my plans are not quite so uncertain as they are
now."
REH to
H.P. Lovecraft, ca. August 1931: "Some day I must
read...the tales you mention by Blackwood..."
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(1867-1928).
REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, 7 July 1923,
in a listing of parodic book titles is "'The Four Horsemen of
the Eucalyptus,' by Blasco Ibanez" [The Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse, 1916].
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(1858-1942).
In "Children of the
Night," Kirowan says: "Boaz has demonstrated, for
instance, that in the case of immigrants to America, skull
formations often change in one generation."
Boas, in his Anthropology and Modern Life (New York:
W.W. Norton & Co., 1928), wrote: "Nevertheless detailed
study shows that the form and size of the body are not entirely
shaped by heredity. Records of the stature of European men that
date back to the middle of the past century show that in almost
all countries the average statures have increased by more than an
inch. It is true, this is not a satisfactory proof of an actual
change, because improvement in public health has changed the
composition of the populations, and although it is not likely that
this should be the cause of an increase in stature, it is
conceivable. A better
proof is found in the change of stature among descendants of
Europeans who settle in America. In this case it has been shown
that in many nationalities the children are taller than their own
parents, presumably on account of more favorable conditions of
life." (p. 33) A
note on p. 238-239 states, "Comparisons of parents and their
own children are given in F. Boas, Changes in Bodily Form of
Descendants of Immigrants, pp. 28, 30."
Clark Wissler, in Man and Culture (q.v.), cites Boas
on p. 317: "It came about that some years ago a distinguished
anthropologist hit upon the idea of rounding up in America the
descendants of the foreign born and comparing them with their
parents. The result was rather startling, for in matters of head
form there were clear-cut differences between the parents who grew
up in Europe and their children who were born here. For example,
the longer-headed parents of European growth, produced children in
America who grew up with shorter heads, greater stature,
etc." His notes cite Boas, Franz, Changes in Bodily Form
of Descendants of Immigrants (The Immigration Commission, Senate
Document No. 208, Washington, 1910).
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(1313?-1375).
REH
to Tevis Clyde Smith, 25 February 1925:
"I've read Boccaccio...and a lot of those old
libertines..."
In
"Children of the Night," Conrad's library is said
to include "the Mandrake Press edition of Boccaccio."
The Mandrake Press published two works of
Boccaccio: (1) Amorous
Fiammetta. "Reprinted
from the original English edition, translation of Bartholomew
Young (1587); now edited with an introduction by K.H. Josling and
decorated in colour by M. Leone."
Limited to 550 copies. 28 plates. (London: The Mandrake
Press, 1929); (2) Ten Tales from the Decameron. "The
text of these tales is based on the anonymous translation of 1741,
which was revised by J.W. Orson in 1896.
The book is printed by the Riverside Press, Edinburgh, for
Mandrake Press, Ltd., London.
The edition is limited to twelve copies on Japanese
vellum...and 500 copies on Old York Parchment paper, numbered 13
to 512." (London: Privately printed [for the Mandrake Press],
1930).
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(1893-1954).
REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. March 1928,
quotes five lines from this poem, taken from pp. 16-17 of Clement
Wood's The Truth About Greenwich Village (q.v.), Little
Blue Book 1106.
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(1863-1930).
Mentioned in Howard's
humorous poem, "A Fable for Critics." Bok was
editor of The Ladies' Home Journal (1889-1919) and won a
Pulitzer in 1920 for his autobiography.
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Washington, D.C.: Independent Publishing Co., 1929.
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, 11 February 1936
[SL 2 #77]: "Mussolini's no Caesar; he's a damned rogue, a
fact which has been brought more forcibly to my recognition by
recently glancing at a book of his career by a newspaper man named
Bond..."
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A
History of All Nations from the Earliest Times to the Present,
with over 8000 illustrations. New York: The Grolier Society, and
London, The Educational Book Co., n.d. [1915].
12 volumes. 30557-30568;
PQ1 (author as "Flinders, W.M., et al."); GL
(same as PQ1); TDB (same as PQ1). Still in HPU holdings.
[Note in PQ1: "On the
upper right corner of the front free endpaper is penciled the
price, '12 vols. $20.00'"] Later editions were expanded to
15, and then 18 volumes. The
page numbering remains the same, although the division into
volumes differs. W.M. Flinders Petrie (q.v.) is first-listed among
"Contributing Authors" on the title page. Stanley Lane-Poole (q.v.) is also listed.
REH quotes Professor Eduard Heyck (q.v.) and Professor
Heinrich Schurtz (q.v.) from this source. Volume 1: Man and The Universe, Old Japan, pp. 1-531; Volume
2: New Japan, Australia and New Zealand, pp. 532-1100; Volume 3:
Pacific Ocean, The Middle East, The Near East, pp. 1101-1644;
Volume 4: The Near East, pp. 1645-2216; Volume 5: Africa, Ancient
Greece, Macedon, The Roman Empire, pp. 2217-2806; Volume 6:
Eastern Europe to the French Revolution, pp. 2807-3368; Volume 7:
Western Europe in the Middle Ages, pp. 3369-3910; Volume 8:
Western Europe in the Middle Ages, pp. 3911-4464; Volume 9:
Western Europe to the French Revolution, The Napoleonic Era, pp.
4465-5014; Volume 10: Europe During the 19th Century, pp.
5015-5536; Volume 11: Europe Since 1871, South and Central
America, The North and South Poles, pp. 5537-6050; Volume 12, The
United States, Canada, Newfoundland, The West Indies, pp.
6051-6684.
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(1871-1940)
Chip of the Flying U.
New York: G.W. Dillingham, 1906. 30800; PQ2; GL; TDB.
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(1855-1898).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. October 1930
[SL 1 #47]: "The Judge was a close friend of Brann the
Iconoclast, who was keeping Texas in an uproar, and this shooting
[Judge G.B. Gerald's shootout with the Harris brothers in Waco
(Howard spelled the name "Jarrell")] occurred not long
before Brann and Davis shot each other to death on the streets of
Waco."
Brann became a newspaperman after moving to Texas in
1886, and founded The Iconoclast, "a monthly
publication through which he proposed to combat hypocrisy,
intolerance, and other evils." By 1897 circulation in the
U.S. and abroad had climbed to 98,000 copies a month. Brann's
attacks on the administration of Baylor University proved
unpopular in Waco, provoking partisan violence. As he was
preparing to leave on one of his frequent lecture tours, he and
T.E. Davis mortally wounded one another in an encounter on a Waco
street. [From The Handbook of Texas.]
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(1864-1936).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932:
"I think it was Brisbane who deriding sports and physical
development, spoke of the uselessness of athletics...."
REH to H.P. Lovecraft, 13 May 1936: "I realize
that Mussolini has a number of rump-kissers in America -- Arthur
Brisbane being the foremost and most blatant..."
Brisbane is mentioned in Howard's humorous poem, "A
Fable for Critics." [Brisbane was an important newspaper
columnist of the 1920s and '30s, writing a daily column for the
Hearst chain.]
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(1896-1956).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932,
includes Bromfield among a group of writers of whom Howard says,
"...three ringing razzberries for the whole mob....they're
all wet smacks."
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(1887-1915).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. December 1932:
Brooke is listed among a number of poets Howard likes.
REH to H.P. Lovecraft , 6 March 1933:
"...Rupert Brooke was fond of diving and hiking..."
Brooke is mentioned in Howard's humorous poem, "A
Fable for Critics" (as "Rupey Brooks").
[Howard's copy of Robert W. Service's The Pretender (q.v.)
bore the inscription, on the front free endpaper: "My dear
Sassoon: | See the cuckoo in | the tree | And when you | see him
think of me | Rupert Brooke."
In my opinion, the handwriting is that of Clyde Smith.]
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(1886-1959).
REH
to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. February-March, 1928,
quotes four poems by Brown ("Big-Footed People,"
"The Red Mill," "Combination Salad," and an
untitled verse), all taken from The Truth About Greenwich
Village by Clement Wood (q.v.), pp. 14-15.
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(1806-1861).
REH
to Harold Preece, ca. December 1928
[SL 1 #20]: Browning is listed among the world's great women.
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(1812-1889).
REH
to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. Fall 1927,
quotes the first stanza and the last two lines of the poem, and
then writes a parody of it.
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(1628-1688)
The
Holy War
made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the regaining of
the metropolis of the world;
Or, the losing and taking again of the town of Mansoul.
London: Printed for Dorman Newman at the Kings Arms in the
Poultry, and Benjamin Alsop at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry,
1682. 30788; PQ2; GL;
TDB.
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(1729-1797).
One
Who Walked Alone, p. 141: [quoting Howard] "Did you
ever read what Edmund Burke said: 'The only thing necessary for
the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.'"
[Although widely attributed to
Burke, this statement is not found among his extant works.]
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(1756-1796)
The
Poems and Songs of Robert Burns
The Harvard Classics, Volume
6. New York: P.F. Collier and Son, 1909.
30736; PQ3; GL; TDB.
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(1872-1932).
The
Saga of Billy the Kid
Garden
City, NY: Garden City Publishing Co. [The Star Series], [1926].
30770; PQ1; GL; TDB. Still
in HPU holdings.
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. 25 July 1935: "Of Lincoln [New
Mexico] Walter Noble Burns, author of 'The Saga of Billy the Kid'
has said: 'The village went to sleep at the close of the Lincoln
County war and has never awakened again.
If a railroad never comes to link it with the far-away
world, it may slumber on for a thousand years.
You will find Lincoln now just as it was when Murphy and
McSween and Billy the Kid knew it. The village is an anachronism; a sort of mummy
town......"
[The
quotation is from page 33 of the book.]
Tombstone,
An Iliad of the Southwest
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1927.
30678; PQ2; GL; TDB.
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(1875-1950).
"The Last
Man": "It
was, I reflected, just such a scene as had been described by Edgar
Rice Burroughs, a highly imaginative writer of fiction, who
flourished in the early part of the twentieth century."
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg &
Co., 1922. 30798;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Illustrated by J. Allen St. John.
New York: A.L. Burt Co., 1916.
30802; PQ1; GL; TDB list.
Still in HPU holdings.
[Note
in PQ1: "Stamped in blue ink on the verso of the front free
endpaper is the name 'ROBERT E. HOWARD,' which indicates that the
book originally belonged to him. On the back pastedown endpaper is
the penciled signature, 'Henry Potts.'"]
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg &
Co., 1918. 30773;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg & Co.,
1921. 30312 (as
"The Musker"); PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg &
Co., 1917. 30706;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg
& Co., 1915. 30795;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg &
Co., 1917. 30786;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C.
McClurg & Co., 1918. 30785;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg &
Co., 1914. 30792;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg
& Co., 1921. 30780;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg
& Co., 1920. 30713;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
Chicago:
A.C. McClurg &
Co., 1919. 30737;
PQ2; GL; TDB.
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(1821-1890).
E.
Hoffmann Price, "A Memory of R.E. Howard," in The
Last Celt:
"Howard admired Sir Richard Francis Burton. 'Burton, I think, is a God-damned liar half the time, at
least,' he told me, and hastened to add, 'No disrespect intended,
a man's got to be a liar to tell a good story.'" (See also
Price, "Long Ago," Amra #63, April 1975). [See
also Abdullah,
Achmed]
The
Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî
a lay of the Higher Law.
Translated and annotated by his friend and pupil, F.B.
[Frank Baker, pseudonym of Burton].
London: Privately printed, n.d. [1880].
REH
to Tevis Clyde Smith, week of 20 February 1928
[SL 1 #10]: "The fellow who wrote The Kasidah strung a lot of
fine words together but I can't see that he said such a hell of a
lot.... Next day. Maybe
I was too rough on the author of The Kasidah.
That is a really great poem even though it does merely (as
far as I've read) uphold and expound facts I reasoned out for
myself years ago."
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[Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne] (1889-1928)
Crusade
Boston:
Little, Brown, and Co., 1928.
REH
to Harold Preece, ca. September 1929:
"In Crusade, who did [Byrne] glorify?
Why, the O'Neills -- God knows they're as true and fine a
pure Irish family as ever lived but he made the hero half
Norman and why did he pick the O'Neills?
Because they're Ulster stock; maybe the reason why a just
God hasn't blasted Ulster long ago. And he can't even give the O'Donnells of Donegal justice.
Aborigine, he calls them and all other native Irish
families. Oh well --
you said he's half d'Arcy, didn't you?
I've gotten so I'm suspicious of all Celtic seemings. I expect to find a Fitzpaul or a Fitzgerald lurking under
every straightforward Costovan and O'Brien."
[Donn-Byrne's mother was Jane D'Arcy McParland.
I find it curious that Howard made his Crusader hero,
Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, "Son of a woman of the O'Briens and a
renegade Norman knight..." ("Hawks of Outremer").]
Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1928.
REH
to Harold Preece, ca. September 1929:
"I've been reading Destiny Bay and in a way the book's
left a bad taste in my mouth.
I remember several years ago, picking up the magazine with
one of those stories in it. I
read it avidly for awhile, until -- I remember what a distinct
shock it was when I suddenly discovered that the characters were a
bunch of damned Orangemen. I
was not only shocked but astounded.
In those days, I in my innocence supposed that the only
Irish who ever found their way into decent literature were
South-country people. I
supposed that, naturally, all Irish writers and men of intellect
came from the South -- and that the Ulstermen, realizing their low
moral and psychic status, make it a point to conceal their shame
as much as possible. Such the innocence of youth.
Yet here was an Orangeman flouting his shame, and his
people's shame, in my very face -- blatantly and brazenly
announcing his color, and apparently proud of it.
I have received many literary shocks.
Few have equalled this.
I felt vaguely outraged and insulted.
I finally took up the reptilian thing and tried to read it,
but the zest had gone out of it.
Bred in the traditions of Munster and Connaught, or at
least a handed down remnant of those traditions, a violent hatred
of all things Orange was as natural to me, and as much a part of
me, as patriotism and love for the striped flag is to the average
American youth, reared with Boy Scout standards.
"Well,
I know more now and I'm broader-minded.
I'm no more like an old Irish acquaintance of mine from
Leinster who used to almost have apoplexy at the very slightest
mention, even, of Belfast. But
still I can't stomach that Orange tint with which the late Byrne
besmeared all his works -- well, maybe not all.
He professed a fine national Irish flavor.
And he was a liar when he did."
REH
to Harold Preece, postmarked 18 September 1929: "I've
been reading Destiny Bay.
There's a book for you!
Take it by and large, I believe I like Hangman's House
better, but Destiny Bay is fine in spite of its Orange
leanings. Ah well, Brian Oswald Donn Byrne grew up in Ulster so it's
like he'd write about what he was familiar with."
[Contents of Destiny Bay, with magazine appearances in
parentheses: "Tale of My Cousin Jenico at Spanish Men's
Rest" (Saturday Evening Post, 10 & 17 October,
1925, as "Spanish Men's Rest") | "Tale of My Aunt
Jenepher's Wooing" (Pictorial Review, July 1925, as
"County People") | "Tale of James Carabine" (Saturday
Evening Post, 9 May 1925, as "In Praise of James
Carabine") | "Tale of the Piper" (no magazine
appearance prior to book publication) | "Tale of My Uncle
Cosimo and the Fair Girl of Wu" (Pictorial Review,
April 1925, as "The Fair Girl of Wu") | "Tale of
Golfer Gilligan" (no magazine publication) | "Tale of
the Gypsy Horse" (Saturday Evening Post, 9 & 16
October, 1926, as "The Derby Rule") | "Tale of
Kerry" (Pictorial Review, July 1926, as "The Wall
That Is High") | "Tale Told in Destiny Bay" (no
magazine publication).]
New York: The Century Co., 1926.
REH
to Harold Preece, postmarked 18 September 1929: "Take
it by and large, I believe I like Hangman's House better,
but Destiny Bay is fine in spite of its Orange
leanings."
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(1788-1824).
REH
to H.P. Lovecraft , 6 March 1933:
"Lord Byron was fond of boxing..."
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